Cleanups

Keep Arkansas Beautiful proudly promotes two annual cleanups – the Great American Cleanup and the Great Arkansas Cleanup.

Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup takes place each spring from March through May and is the nation’s largest community improvement effort. Thousands of Arkansas volunteers clean up and beautify their communities before the tourism and vacation seasons begin.

The Great Arkansas Cleanup takes place each fall from September through October. Thousands of Arkansans remove tons of trash from our state’s roadways, shorelines, parks, and public areas during this statewide community improvement campaign.

Thank you to all our Coordinating Partners who have organized cleanup events in their communities across the state. View our 2018 Coordinating Partners here!

Please note: If supplies are needed, please be sure to register your events at least 3 weeks in advance. Cleanup supplies are limited and awarded on a “first-come, first-serve” basis. T-shirts are our most-requested supply, and we cannot guarantee every volunteer will receive a t-shirt. We suggest using t-shirts as prizes for volunteers who 1) have attended the most cleanups, 2) youngest volunteers, 3) oldest volunteer, 4) who traveled the farthest, 5) name drawings, etc.

Interested in finding a volunteer event near you? Click here to visit our Calendar of Events.

2018 Great American Cleanup Youth Poster Contest – contest for 2018 has closed – 2019 materials will be posted early next year!

2018 Call For Entries Cover Letter

2018 Poster Contest Rules & Curriculum Connections

About the Great American Cleanup

Once a community signs on to host a Great American Cleanup in Arkansas event, KAB will work with that community to organize and publicize the effort. KAB will provide volunteers with GLAD® trash bags, gloves, safety vests and T-shirts. Promotional materials available to communities include banners, fliers, customizable news release, volunteer stickers and brochures. The KAB Facebook page and website are also available to coordinators to promote their events.

During the 2018 Great American Cleanup in Arkansas, more than 7,000 volunteers worked more than 46,000 hours in communities across the state. This community improvement effort involved 166 events, with volunteers collecting 133,606 pounds of litter from 949 miles of roadway, trails and shorelines, and 4,624 acres of parks and public areas!

Arkansans also recycled 6,024 tires and 245,019 pounds of electronics. Click here for the 2018 Great American Cleanup Results infographic! Click here to see our Registered Counties Map that shows which counties in Arkansas registered Great American Cleanup events with us. The total economic value of the 2018 Great American Cleanup to Arkansas communities was $1,666,146.

About the Great Arkansas Cleanup

During the 2018 Great Arkansas Cleanup, more than 5,000 volunteers worked almost 26,000 hours in communities across the state. The community improvement effort involved 156 events, with volunteers collecting 76,887 pounds of litter from 729 miles of roadways, 900 miles of waterways, and nearly 20,000 acres of parks and public areas.

The total economic value of the 2018 Great Arkansas Cleanup to Arkansas communities was $1,230,091. Click here for the 2018 Great Arkansas Cleanup Results infographic! Click here to see our Registerd Counties Map that shows which counties in Arkansas registered Great Arkansas Cleanup events with us.

The Great Arkansas Cleanup began more than 40 years ago as the Greers Ferry Lake and Little Red River Cleanup. In 1985, then-U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers guided legislation requiring an annual pickup event during the weekend after Labor Day on all federal lands. This law, the Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Act, honors the founder of the event. Mr. Garner continued his advocacy for a clean and litter-free environment until his death in 2014.